Montgomery County, Maryland has passed law requiring sick leave to be offered to all employees. Any employers functioning or handling business in Montgomery County are required to supply their employees with paid sick leave. This is stronger than most sick leave laws that exclude small companies. There are a few exceptions, including: employees who usually work less than or equal to eight (8) hours a week, some individuals lacking a steady work schedule, and independent contractors. The act goes into effect October 1, 2016 in order to give businesses time to implement any necessary adjustments.

Is Montgomery the only county in Maryland implementing paid sick leave?

Well, so far it is. The state of Maryland in general had legislation introduced in January of 2015 but no further action was taken. However, so it may not matter in what county your business is located if the Executive Order recently signed by President Obama, requiring mandatory sick leave for all federal contractors, takes effect.

How much sick leave must be offered?

According to the National Partnership for Women & Families, if the company has more than five (5) workers then individuals earn at least one (1) hour of “paid sick and safe time” for every 30 hours of work performed. This can accumulate up to 56 hours per year. Individuals at businesses with less than five employees can only accrue up to 32 hours of paid leave and 24 hours of unpaid leave annually. Unless the full limit is awarded to the employee during the current year, then they must be permitted to carry over the balance to the next year.

If upon termination, more sick leave has been paid out than accumulated then the unearned amount may be subtracted from any wages due. Any accumulated but unpaid hours, upon termination, are not required to be paid. However, if the employee is reinstated within nine months, then they are entitled to receive any unused sick leave that they earned prior to leaving. Even employees in a 90-day probationary period must be allowed to earn sick and safe leave, although they can be prohibited from using it during this time.

How will abuses to the policy be handled?

If an employee uses sick and safe leave for more than 3 successive days then the employer can require reasonable documentation from the employee to confirm the appropriate use. The amount of leave must be documented for each employee on every pay date.

How does a paid time off pool affect this and is it required in addition to PTO?

There will be no additional paid time off required for employers who already offer 56 or more paid hours of leave in “paid time off” PTO policy. Any employers that have a general PTO policy already implemented, that meets the minimum requirements, do not need to take further action.

Are any counties in VA or DC moving forward with similar policies?

The District of Columbia maintains a paid sick leave law, as well. This law separates companies into 3 different sizes for regulation purposes. For employers with more than 100 employees, individuals must earn 1 hour of sick leave for every 37 hours worked. Those with at least 25 employees but less than 100 must accrue 1 hour for every 43 worked. Lastly, employers with less than 25 workers must be provided 1 hour for every 87 hours of work. To qualify the employee must have worked for the employer for 1 year without a break in service, not including other leave granted and must have worked at least 1000 hours immediately preceding the rested leave.

Mandatory sick leave legislation for Virginia was introduced and defeated in 2008.

California has a statewide paid sick day law in effect as well as several other states.

Contributed by Lauren Lombardi, Accounting Clerk